Assistance to Exchange Your Mexico Visa for a Residency Card

When you have been granted a temporary or permanent residency visa in Mexico and need assistance exchanging the visa sticker(s) in your passport(s) for a residency card, our associates can help.

The visa sticker the Mexican Consulate issues in your passport gives you one-time entry to Mexico as a legal resident, and you must arrive at a port in Mexico before it expires (usually six months after its issue date), and you must exchange this sticker for a residency card within 30 days of your arrival in Mexico.

Assistance with the visa-to-card exchange process

A special process exists to exchange the residency visa sticker in your passport for a residency card, and this must be done in person at a local immigration office in Mexico.

The procedures involve completing some forms, and writing a letter (in Spanish) requesting the exchange. You must attend your local immigration office in Mexico with the paperwork correctly completed to finish the residency application process and exchange the visa sticker in your passport for a residency card.

Tele Assistance or Accompanied Assistance

Our associates offer a choice of tele-assistance that enables you to attend the immigration office in Mexico yourself fully prepared with all the forms and other paperwork duly completed and ready to file, and they offer accompanied assistance at selected locations in Mexico if you want someone to prepare all the paperwork and accompany you to file at the immigration office.

Tele-Assistance for Visa Exchange

Consultation and paperwork. Our associate will consult with you about your situation, confirm the procedures and afterwards complete the forms, write the covering letter, and email the documents for you to print and sign so you arrive prepared at the immigration office.

Instructions and checklist. Our associate will provide you with a checklist of documents you’ll need to take with you and detailed instructions about where to go and what to do when you arrive.

Learn more and make a request for Tele-Assistance

Accompanied Assistance for Visa Exchange

Consultation and paperwork. Our associate will consult with you about your situation, confirm the procedures and afterwards complete the forms, write the covering letter, print and prepare the documents for you to sign.

Appointment or service token. Depending on the location, our associate will either attend the immigration office ahead of time to obtain an appointment date for you, or they will line up early in the morning to hold your place in the line for a service token on the day you intend to file.

Accompaniment and instructions. Our associate will provide you with a checklist of documents you’ll need to take with you on the day. They will meet you on the filing date and provide you with all the paperwork to sign and present to the immigration office. If they cannot accompany you inside (some offices allow this, others don’t) they will provide you with detailed instructions about what to do when you enter.

Learn more and make a request for Accompanied Assistance

Time scales to exchange your visa for a residency card

You must arrive in Mexico and begin the exchange process before the visa expires, which is usually 180 days (six months) after its issue date, and within 30 days of your physical arrival in Mexico—and we recommend that you don’t leave it to the last minute!

Some immigration offices process exchanges and issue the residency card(s) on the same day you attend the immigration office in Mexico, and sometimes offices ask applicants to return, usually within 1-3 weeks after their filing date, to complete the process.

You can learn more about current time scales on this article.